We agree with Winter and Schweiger that it is important to differentiate between gradually changing and abruptly changing systems. Transformation of tropical regions by land-use change will inevitably have abrupt and profound effects on ecosystem properties, which will be driven both by changes in abiotic factors and by the replacement of one suite of species with another. As such, we maintain that in these cases the species trait concept remains relevant. Even when most or all species are lost, changes in the ecosystem will be driven most strongly by the loss of those species whose traits had the strongest effects on ecosystem processes before the loss occurred.
Michel Loreau, Shahid Naeem, Pablo Inchausti, Jan Bengtsson, J. Philip Grime, Andy Hector, David U. Hooper, Michael A. Huston, Dave Raffaelli, Bernhard Schmid, David Tilman, David A. Wardle
David U. Hooper, F. Stuart Chapin, John J. Ewel, Andy Hector, Pablo Inchausti, Sandra Lavorel, John H. Lawton, David M. Lodge, Michel Loreau, Shahid Naeem, Bernhard Schmid, Heikki Setälä, Amy J. Symstad, John Vandermeer, David A. Wardle
Dave Raffaelli, Wim H. van der Putten, Lennart Persson, David A. Wardle, Owen L. Petchey, Julia Koricheva, Marcel G. A. van der Heijden, Juha Mikola, Theodore A. Kennedy
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